Mustangs Hope To Regain Form After Two Losses

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Sometimes long layoffs in the postseason can squash momentum. That doesn’t figure to be the case for the Kalaheo baseball team,which had dropped games to Radford and Kahuku recently in the OIA tournament.

If anything, the Mustangs used the last several days to re-invent themselves - at least in mind-set.

“Probably my main failure was in not getting us up (emotionally) enough,“coach Tim Lierman said. “We didn’t bring the intensity and the will to win to the OIA playoffs, and that was disappointing. More disappointing (of the two games) was the 11-2 loss to Radford. But we’ve put that behind us, and we’re moving forward. We had a real no-nonsense practice on Tuesday, and we hope to continue that and carry it into the state tournament.”

Pairings for the Division II State Baseball Tournament, which will take place Wednesday through Saturday at both Central Oahu Regional Park and Les Murakami Stadium at UH-Manoa, were to be announced on Sunday. For their part, the Mustangs hope to regain their form from the regular season, especially offensively.

“We swung the bat real well in the regular season, but we didn’t show too much firepower in the playoffs,” Lierman said.

Much of the Mustangs’ offensive output this season has come in middle of its batting order, with Richard Preza-Haynes, Alika Kaanapu and Aaron Fernandez hitting in the No. 3, 4 and 5 spots, respectively.

Fernandez overcame early-season injuries to hit .750 over his final six regular-season games, while Preza-Haynes batted over .500, and Kaanapu topped the .400 mark.

“Those three have hit the cover off of the ball,” said Lierman, whose players batted .350 as a team this year in White conference games.

On the mound, Lierman has several options with Preza-Haynes, Fernandez, Sean Ouchie, Steven Vega and Colby Lee all having had solid outings this season. The Mustangs’ pitching depth was further solidified by the development of Kord Walls, who earned his first start in Kalaheo’s 3-2 loss to Kahuku April 28 in the third place game of the OIA Tournament.

“He threw really well against Kahuku, and it was great to see Steven (Vega) come in and shut them down in relief,“Lierman said. “We have a lot of good arms. Our struggles have been in being consistent in throwing strikes. When we can throw strikes consistently, we’ll be all right.

“It’s up in the air right now who will start Wednesday’s game,” he added. “We’re going to see who throws the best in practice. (Richard) Preza-Haynes has the best stuff on the team. He can be a shutdown pitcher when he’s throwing strikes. Vega and Fernandez have been our most reliable in the bull pen.”

Lierman has also been pleased with the play of freshman Justin Pagan and sophomores Ricky Martin, Torin Luis and John Bascuk. The foursome were in the Mustangs’ lineup in the recent Kahuku game.

“They’ve all been coming around and learning the game. I’ve been real impressed with their attitude.”

Kalaheo’s appearance in the state tournament is its first since 2003, when the Mustangs advanced under then-head coach Alex Racoma. As a player for the Mustangs in the ‘90s, Lierman and his teammates were unable to make the field.

“It’s definitely exciting for me and some of the other coaches,” said Lierman, who is assisted by Schad Woods, Kerry Okumura, Rich Olsen Jr., Keahi Rawlins, Matt Splendor and John Torres. “We’re going to give it our best shot, and hopefully we’ll be playing (for the state title) on Saturday night.

Wednesday, Thursday and Friday’s action will be at C.O.R.P. The state title game is set for Saturday evening at Les Murakami Stadium on UH. Game time was to be announced early this week.